This invention relates to interactive television program guide systems. More particularly, this invention relates to interactive television program guide systems having a program guide application that serves as a portal for other applications.
Interactive television program guides are well known. Such guides, which are typically implemented on set-top boxes, allow users to view television program listings on their home televisions. Typical program guides allow users to view information for television programs and channels and audio programs and channels. For example, a program guide may provide information on regular television channels, premium television channels, pay-per-view television channels, and music channels. A variety of display formats are typically supported. For example, program listings may be organized by time, by channel, and by category (sports, children, comedy, movies, etc.).
Future set-top box systems may include access to services that are rarely or never provided by current program guides, such as video-on-demand, home shopping, Internet web browsing, electronic mail, banking, enhanced television (interactive programs), data services, and wagering services.
In currently envisioned systems each of these non-program-guide services would be provided as a separate application loaded into the same set-top-box as the program guide. A menu structure or other common interface might be provided to allow the user to launch a given one of the applications. However, there would be no commonality between the user interfaces provided by the program guide application and non-program guide applications. This could lead to user confusion, particularly with users who are not necessarily computer literate. Overlap between applications might not be exploited and code and data might be duplicated among the applications.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a program guide system in which an interactive television program guide application has the capability to serve as a portal for other applications. By acting as a portal, the program guide application may ensure a common user interface, may eliminate resource contention, and may reduce the amount of code and data required by each application.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide ways in which to facilitate the use of multiple applications such as a program guide application and non-program-guide applications.